The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and an information processing apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to and a liquid crystal display device and an information processing apparatus which includes a main body portion including a keyboard and a panel portion including a liquid crystal panel, in which the panel portion is turnably supported on the main body portion through a hinge or hinges.
There are known information processing apparatuses in which a panel portion including a liquid crystal panel is turnably supported through a hinge or hinges on a main body portion having a keyboard including a plurality of operation keys arranged.
In such information processing apparatuses, there is one in which the liquid crystal panel is fitted to a casing of the panel portion through brackets, and the conventional methods of fitting include the following.
(1) Brackets formed integrally with hinges are used, the liquid crystal panel is fitted to the brackets, and the hinges and the brackets are fitted to the casing.
(2) Brackets formed integrally with hinges are fitted to the casing, other brackets are fitted to the liquid crystal panel, and the two kinds of brackets are connected to each other.
(3) Hinges are fitted to the casing, brackets formed independently of the hinges are preliminarily fitted to the casing, and the liquid crystal panel is fitted to the brackets preliminarily fitted to the casing.
The above-mentioned conventional methods of fitting, however, have the following problems respectively.
In the method of (1) above, at the time of replacing the liquid crystal panel with another liquid crystal panel differing in outside shape, it is necessary to change the casing to a casing which corresponds to the liquid crystal panel newly used, or to change the brackets formed integrally with the hinges to brackets having a shape corresponding to the liquid crystal panel newly used. Thus, the burden attendant on the replacement of the liquid crystal panel is heavy.
In the method of (2) above, two kinds of brackets are needed, so that weight is increased that much, and a large layout space is needed for laying out the brackets. Therefore, the panel portion is enlarged in size, and the number of component parts and cost are increased.
In the method of (3) above, the hinges are fitted separately from the brackets, so that the fitting strength of the hinges is low, which may result in that the support condition of the panel portion is unstable.
The present invention has been made so as to overcome the above-mentioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus in which a stable support condition of a panel portion relative to a main body portion is secured and reductions in the production cost and the cost of replacing a liquid crystal panel are contrived.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device including:
a liquid crystal panel provided with fitting screw insertion holes respectively at a pair of side surfaces thereof;
a pair of brackets including a holding portion covering one side surface of the liquid crystal panel, and flat plate portions formed at both ends of the side surface in parallel to the liquid crystal surface; and
a liquid crystal casing including a rear panel and a front panel covering the liquid crystal panel,
wherein the pair of the brackets are screwed respectively to both side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel through holes provided in the holding portions and the fitting screw insertion holes of the liquid crystal panel and are screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through holes provided in the flat plate portions.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus which includes a liquid crystal casing having a rear panel and a front panel covering a liquid crystal panel, and a main body portion having a keyboard provided with predetermined keys, the liquid crystal casing turnably fitted to the main body portion through hinges,
the information processing apparatus comprising:
a pair of brackets including a holding portion covering one side surface of the liquid crystal panel, a flat plate portion formed at one end of the side surface in parallel to the liquid crystal surface, and a connection portion provided at the other end of the side surface,
wherein the holding portion is screwed through a hole provided in the holding portion and a fitting screw insertion hole of the liquid crystal panel,
the flat plate portion is screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through a hole provided in the flat plate portion, and
the connection portion is screwed to the inside of the liquid crystal casing through a hole provided in a fitted portion of the hinge disposed overlapping with the connection portion and a hole provided in the connection portion.
According to the present invention as mentioned above, the fitting strength of the hinges to the casing is enhanced, and a stable support condition of the panel portion relative to the main body portion can be secured.
In addition, according to the present invention, even in the case of replacing the liquid crystal panel with a new one differing in outside shape, it suffices to replace only the brackets with new ones having a shape corresponding to the new liquid crystal panel. Therefore, burden at the time of replacing the liquid crystal panel is little, and the liquid crystal panel can be easily replaced at low cost.
Further, according to the present invention, the holding portions of the brackets are fitted in the state of overlapping with side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel, so that each portion of the brackets is not present on each surface orthogonal to the side surfaces of the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, when the liquid crystal panel is disposed in the inside of the casing, space for disposing the brackets is not needed in the thickness direction of the casing, so that a thinner structure of the panel portion can be contrived.
Besides, according to the present invention, the connection portions of the brackets each include an overlapping portion to be fitted to the casing in the state of overlapping with the fitted portion of the hinge and a direct fitting portion to be fitted directly to the casing. Therefore, the fitting strength of the brackets onto the casing is high, and the torsion or camber would not easily be generated in the brackets at the time of turning the panel portion.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts or elements denoted by like reference symbols.